Maryland Woman Indicted On Embezzlement & Fraud Charges In $1.8 Million Theft From Bank

From the Perry Hall Patch on 12/31/2016:

A Nottingham woman was indicted on federal charges of embezzlement and fraud. Melissa Strohman, 54, former senior vice president of a Maryland bank, is accused of stealing more than $1.8 million by making unauthorized transfers and withdrawals from customers' accounts, according to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland.

From April 2010 to July 2016, Strohman allegedly took money from six customers at the federal savings bank where she worked to pay for her and her family's mortgages, credit cards and property taxes, the U.S. Attorney reported. Two of the victims were deceased and three of the clients were more than 80 years old.

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Former Head of Long Island Non-Profit Accused of Embezzling Nearly $1 Million - Supported Lavish Lifestyle

From the New York Post on 7/18/16:

The head of a Long Island not-for-profit organization swiped nearly $1 million in “consulting fees” to pay for her lavish lifestyle, which included cosmetic surgery, family vacations, spa treatments and her $1.3 million home, federal authorities in Brooklyn charged Monday.

Wafa Abboud allegedly ripped off $900,000 from Human First Inc., a social-services provider for those with autism and other developmental disabilities, between January 2011 and May 2016, according to a criminal complaint.

She served as executive director of the nonprofit from 2010 through May 2016, when she was fired.
The organization paid at least $16,000 a month — and sometimes more — to consulting firm MPB Management, a company run by one of Abboud’s cohorts, Marcelle Bailey, court papers say.

A federal investigation found that after the money was transferred to MPB Management, Abboud, 48, used the firm’s bank account to pay off at least $114,000 in personal credit-card debt she had racked up on vacations, jewelry and dining out, officials charged.

She also allegedly wired about $67,000 from MPB Management accounts to herself — and drew checks from it, including $8,000 for a “cosmetic-surgery bill,” according to the court complaint.

About $340,000 in ill-gotten gains were used as a down payment on Abboud’s home in Merrick, LI.
She is also accused of swiping more than $3,5000 to pay for property taxes.

Abboud and a co-defendant, Rami Misbah Taha, crafted a similar money-laundering scheme when it came to funding renovations for the home, according to the complaint.

Human First paid out more than $400,000 to a company controlled by Taha for purported “repairs” to its facilities — but the money was then funneled to a construction business that was doing upgrades on Abboud’s abode, the court documents say.

Prosecutors say Abboud also wired more than $23,000 to people in Morocco and Egypt between 2012 and 2014.

Abboud, Taha and Bailey were indicted last week on charges of embezzlement, conspiracy, money laundering, bank fraud and conspiracy to commit bank fraud for allegedly making false statements in order to secure a $1 million mortgage for the Merrick house.

They were arrested on the charges last month and released on bail, according to court records.

Former Hospital Union Head In Alabama Accused Of Embezzling $132K

From Alabama Media Group on 3/12/2015:

The former president of the union for federal employees at Birmingham's Veterans Affairs hospital has been indicted on charges that she embezzled more than $132,000 in chapter funds.

Stephanie Hicks, 43, of Birmingham, was indicted on bank fraud, forgery and aggravated identity theft charges, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.

"Union members elect officials to represent them and protect their interests," Vance said in a statement. "A labor union official who chooses, instead, to live the high life by stealing from local members has committed a crime and should prepare to go to prison."

According to the indictment, Hicks served as president of the American Federation of Government Employees, Local 2207, AFL-CIO, at the hospital from July 2007 to July 2013. Dues collected from the chapter's 440 members were kept in two bank accounts, a general operating account and a legal fund account at Wachovia Bank, then Wells Fargo.

Hicks is accused of using her position as president to make unauthorized transactions from the accounts for her benefit, including writing checks for travel that didn't happen, forging the names of other officers and members, and making debit card purchases and cash withdrawals, according to the news release. She is also accused of covering up the expenses by not keeping records, in violation of federal laws and the local's constitution and bylaws, and didn't seek approval for the charges.

Hicks faces eight bank fraud, eight forged security and three aggravated identity theft counts.

She was indicted last month and the indictment was unsealed after her arrest Wednesday.

"This indictment is a testament to the excellent interagency cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Justice," said Monty Stokes, the special agent in charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of the Inspector General. "As president of the local union, Hicks represented Local 2207, with more than 400 VA members. VA OIG will continue to pursue those that abuse their positions of trust and steal from innocent victims."

The Veterans Affairs OIG and the Department of Labor's Office of Labor-Management Standards and OIG investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Xavier O. Carter is prosecuting it.

"OLMS aggressively investigates allegations of financial mismanagement by union officers," said Hollis Lindley Jr., the investigator with the Office of Labor-Management Standards. "Union members have an expectation that their elected officers are using the union funds for legitimate union purposes. This particular case was severe in the amount of money stolen and in the degree of concealment."

Scandals at the Central Alabama Veterans Healthcare Systems led to James Talton, the system's director, being removed from his position last year.

Former Paralegal In Georgia Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $600K From Law Firm's Client Accounts

From the Augusta Chronicle on 3/12/2015:

A paralegal who was accused of stealing almost $600,000 from a law firm and its clients pleaded guilty Tuesday after just two days of a trial in which he represented himself.

Richard Owen faced 253 counts of bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. From 2007 to 2012, Owen worked for the Victor Hawk law firm. His duties included ensuring medical bills were paid for clients with civil financial settlements, and that clients received all money left over after the firm was paid its fee, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Solari said during proceedings Monday.

Solari said Owen would write out checks in clients’ names, forge their signatures and deposit the checks in his personal bank account. Owen’s signature was later recognized after clients began to voice concerns, Solari said.

 By the time the scheme unravelled, Owen had spent more than $550,000 on collectible coins, Solari said.

Attorney Victor Hawk said after the plea Tuesday that Owen could now face a prison sentence up to 50 years.

Brenda Barrette has been confined to a wheelchair since a 2008 accident. She testified Tuesday that she never saw any of the 26 checks totaling more than $113,000 that Owen deposited. Owen was supposed to help her with the insurance settlement and pay all of the bills accumulated during 13 surgeries and medical treatments after an infection settled into the hip she broke.

“I kept getting the bills,” Barrette testified. Barrette was one of 41 clients whose signatures were allegedly forged on the checks deposited into Owen’s account.

Attorney Melissa Detche­mendy, an associate at the Victor Hawk law firm for 11 years, testified that when Owen left the firm in the summer of 2012, his calls started coming to her. Clients’ medical expenses that were supposed to have been paid – and according to the records Owen created, were paid – were still due.

She and Hawk went to retrieve the firm’s bank records but they had disappeared, Detchemendy testified.

When replacement bank records from 2011 arrived, Detchemendy testified she was responsible for going through them. Dozens of checks made out to clients were in the records and for the first time she saw the back side of the checks with the signature lines. The signatures were in Owen’s handwriting, Detchemendy testified.

Former Texas Banker Sentened In $462K Embezzlement Scheme

From The Associated Press on 3/3/2015:

A former Houston banker must serve nearly two years in prison for stealing more than $462,000 and using some funds to buy gifts for co-workers.

Quinhun Rollins was sentenced Monday in Houston. The 42-year-old woman in October pleaded guilty to bank fraud.

Rollins must serve 33 months behind bars and repay the money stolen since 2012 from a Green Bank in Houston.

Investigators say Rollins funneled unauthorized bank payments, disguised as funds meant for vendors, to her personal account at another bank.

Authorities say Rollins used the stolen money to provide gifts to fellow employees, who were not aware of the scam, and also to fund parties at her house.

Two Texas Women Plead Guilty To Bilking Bank Out Of $800K

From News12 on 2/11/2015:

A former banker and another South Texas woman face up to 30-year prison terms in a check-cashing scheme.

Anita Arredondo pleaded guilty Tuesday to bank fraud in the scam involving about $800,000 in bogus construction company checks.

Prosecutors in Laredo say Petra Del Bosque earlier pleaded guilty to the same federal count.
Both women from Zapata (zuh-PAH'-tuh) were arrested last October.

Del Bosque formerly worked at Zapata National Bank. Arredondo was an accounts payable clerk for a construction company.

Investigators say Arredondo issued and endorsed more than 300 company checks made payable to contractors for work that was never done. Del Bosque told tellers that she was cashing the checks on behalf of contractors and would deliver the money.

The two women also face possible $1 million fines.

Former Bank Officer In New Jersey Charged With Embezzling $1.2 Million

From the Cliffview Pilot on 2/10/2015:

A federal grand jury in Newark today indicted a former assistant vice-president at BankAsiana in Fort Lee on charges of embezzling more than $1.2 million from her employer.

Miye Chon, 34, of Englewood Cliffs — also known as Karen Chon — made a series of unauthorized transfers from customers’ CDs into the bank’s vault cash account, then walked out with the money over the course of several years, the indictment alleges.

Dozens of illegal transfers typically went for tens of thousands of dollars at a time, although one was for $100,000, it says, in charging Chon with one count of bank fraud and 27 counts of theft, embezzlement or misapplication of funds by a bank officer or employee.

“Bank records show that during one week between September 27, 2013 and October 4, 2013, Chon’s last day working at the bank, she made multiple unauthorized transfers from customer accounts totaling approximately $1.2 million to cover losses in other customer accounts that she had previously looted,” U.S. Attorney Paul S. Fishman said after Chon surrendered to FBI agents this past September.

Officials said the scheme ended up costing the bank $1.4 million.

After BankAsiana was acquired in October 2013, officials launched an internal investigation in response to a customer’s complaint about tax forms and account records, the U.S. attorney said.
They found that Chon accessed BankAsiana’s computer systems using her credentials to make the transfers, he said.

She’d avoided detection to that point “by making false entries in the bank’s records and ensuring that funds she removed from CDs were transferred back into those accounts before they were set to reach maturity,” Fishman said.

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Utah Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling Nearly $300K From Bank

From the Salt Lake Tribune on 2/5/2015:

A former loan officer has been ordered to repay Wells Fargo Bank $297,000 that she admitted embezzling.

 

Christal Mawson is required to pay a minimum of $200 a month and no interest, based on an analysis of her ability to pay.

 

A felony charge of embezzlement by a bank employee was filed against her in December of 2013 in U.S. District Court. She pleaded guilty in October of last year, admitting that she embezzled from a Wells Fargo branch in Salt Lake City from February of 2008 to January of 2013.

 

In lieu of prison, Mawson was placed on probation for five years.

Louisiana Man Charged With Embezzling More Than $28 Million Over 18+ Year Period

From Fox8 on 1/30/2015:

A Mandeville certified public accountant accused of stealing from his employer for nearly two decades faces federal charges.

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced Friday that Michael Sapera was charged in a four-count bill of information with bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, and wire fraud.

Federal prosecutors allege Sapera embezzled $2,809,580 from a New Orleans-based retail clothing company from 1996-2014.

They say he forged his employer's signature on nearly 430 stolen corporate checks worth approximately $2,192,500, endorsed them to himself and deposited them into his personal bank account.

Prosecutors also say he transferred $582,080 in corporate funds to his personal account without authorization, consent, or knowledge of the owners and $35,000 to a personal PayPal account.
Sapera began working for the company in 1990 and was most recently employed as chief financial officer and director of information technology.

Kentucky Man Pleads Guilty To Embezzling Nearly $1 Million From Bank

From the Herald-Leader on 1/30/2015:

A former officer at United Bank in Versailles pleaded guilty Thursday to embezzling nearly $1 million.

Joey Mills admitted that he took the money between February 2012 and January 2014 by issuing about 30 fictitious loans totaling $983,767, according to documents in federal court.

Mills issued the loans in the names of five relatives. Many of the loans listed ownership interests in a company called Fiesta Auto Insurance as collateral, but those interests didn't exist, according to court documents.

Mills acknowledged that he used the proceeds for himself. His plea agreement said he has repaid some money, but it did not say how much.

Court records indicate that Mills has a gambling problem. He was required to remain in treatment for gambling as a condition of being released pending sentencing.

U.S. District Judge Karen K. Caldwell scheduled sentencing for May 7.

The maximum sentence would be 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine, but it's unlikely that Mills will receive the maximum.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/01/30/3669451_former-officer-at-united-bank.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

Florida Woman Charged With Embezzling $190K From Bank

From WJAX-TV 47 on 1/20/2015:

According to documents Action News obtained from U.S. District Court, Margaret Miller, also known as Peggy, had intent to defraud EverBank. The documents say that from November 2013 to May 2, 2014, Miller willfully embezzled approximately $190,000 in cash from a vault.
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Ohio Woman Accused Of Embezzling $860K From Savings & Loan Customer

From WFMJ on 1/14/15:

EAST LIVERPOOL, Ohio - A retired employee of Home Savings and Loan is accused of stealing $860,000 over a six year period.

A federal grand jury has returned a one-count indictment charging Mary Jo Schmidbauer, age 67, of East Liverpool, Ohio, with bank fraud.

Prosecutors say that in 2007, when Schmidbauer was employed by Home Savings and Loan in East Liverpool, she obtained permission from a person identified only as “J.M.” to manage money that J.M. deposited into accounts maintained by the bank.

After retiring from her position, Schmidbauer obtained a power of attorney from J.M. to continue managing the accounts maintained by Home Savings and Loan, according to the indictment.

Schmidbauer also allegedly withdrew cash from J.M.'s accounts for Schmidbauer's own personal use and transferred money from J.M.'s accounts into Schmidbauer's accounts. Schmidbauer then withdrew that money for her own personal use, according to the indictment.

The indictment says that Schmidbauer obtained a total of approximately $860,000 from J.M.'s accounts between 2007 and 2013.

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Louisiana Woman Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy To Commit Bank Fraud

From the US Attorney's Office in Louisiana on 1/7/2015:

U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that CYNTHIA HEFLER, age 67, of Westwego, Louisiana, pled guilty in federal court today to conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

According to court documents, HEFLER, worked as the office manager for A & H Armature Works, Inc.  In her capacity as office manager, HEFLER handled the company’s accounts receivable and embezzled from the company business bank accounts at First American Bank.  HEFLER conspired with another to steal A & H Armature Works, Inc. funds in order to help pay off her credit card debt accrued through gambling.

HEFLER faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 5 years, a fine of $250,000 and 3 years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment for each count. U.S. District Judge Kurt K. Engelhardt set sentencing for April 1, 2015.


Note: the fact that the US Attorney's office was involved here suggests that the amount stolen was more than $100,000. 

Georgia Man Sentenced For $25 Million Bankfraud & Kickback Scheme

From WALB on 12/19/2014:

A Bainbridge man will spend two years in prison and pay more than $25 million in restitution for bank fraud according to his federal court sentence.

Larry Malone, 59, was sentenced in Albany federal court on Tuesday. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud and accepting bribes and kickbacks.

Prosecutors said Malone was the Chief Lending Officer with Southwest Georgia Farm Credit at the time of the offenses.

According to an investigation, Malone made fraudulent loans from 2001 to 2008 to a variety of borrowers in Georgia and Florida totalling $25,540,896. He also received approximately $900,000 in bribes and kickbacks from those borrowers.

Former CEO of Trucking Concern Allegedly Defrauds Bank to the Tune of $15 Million

From Fraud News on 12/8/2014:

The former chief executive officer of a Tulsa trucking company has been indicted on fraud charges that relate to the closure of the company.

James Douglas Pielsticker, 46, faces 23 counts of various fraud charges – tax fraud, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit tax fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, tax evasion and failure to account for and pay employee-withholding taxes – that suddenly shuttered Arrow Trucking Co.

According to the indictment, Pielsticker and a co-conspirator allegedly submitted fake invoices to Transportation Alliance Bank of Ogden, Utah with inflated amounts the bank “owed” to Arrow. The bank had bought the trucking company’s invoices.

The indictment states he allegedly did not pay personal income taxes for three years – 2007, 2008 and 2009 - and didn’t pay the payroll taxes of its employees for three quarters of the 2009 year.

According to prosecutors, these alleged action cost the bank over $15 million and Pielsticker owes over $9.5 million in back taxes.

The indictment states Pielsticker used the money to pay for his wedding, two automobiles and an array of other personal “needs”.

Court documents have no listing for a lawyer for Pielsticker.

Jonathan Leland Moore, former chief financial officer for Arrow, pled guilty to conspiracy Dec. 4 for his role in the case.

Arrow halted all operations and laid off hundreds of its employees three days before Christmas 2009, which left truck drivers stuck around the country with no way to get home or pay for gas. In January 2010, the company filed for bankruptcy… hours after the bank filed a lawsuit against Arrow.

Massive Embezzlment Conspiracy Reported Involving The Vatican Bank: As Much As $70 Million Siphoned Off In Fraud

From Crux news on 12/6/2014:

A statement on Saturday from the Vatican bank confirmed that two former managers and a lawyer are facing criminal charges and their accounts have been seized, describing the move as a sign of the bank’s “commitment to transparency and zero tolerance.”

The statement appeared in response to a Reuters report identifying the accused parties as former bank president Angelo Caloia, former director general Lelio Scaletti, and a lawyer named Gabriele Liuzzo. All are Italian.

According to the Reuters report, the three men have been charged by a Vatican prosecutor with embezzling money from the sale of 29 buildings to mainly Italian buyers between 2001 and 2008.             

Almost $20 million has been frozen in accounts belonging to the three men as part of the probe. According to documents obtained by Reuters, a Vatican prosecutor suspects that as much as $70 million may have been illegally siphoned off from those sales.

Today’s statement from the bank, formally known as the “Institute for the Works of Religion,” says that the suspicions arose from an internal review process launched in 2013, and that it was officials at the bank who reported the matter to the Vatican’s Promoter of Justice with a recommendation that charges be filed.

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Missouri Woman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling $375K

From KOAM Ch. 7 on 12/5/2014:

Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Nevada, Mo., woman pleaded guilty in federal court today to a bank fraud scheme in which she embezzled from her employer.

Patricia Culbertson, 53, of Nevada, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to a federal information that charges her with bank fraud and filing a false tax return.

Culbertson worked for Barrington Manufacturing Corporation as a book keeper from June 2009 until she was suspended on June 24, 2014.

By pleading guilty today, Culbertson admitted that she forged the company owner's signature on checks from the company's bank account without authorization in order to cover her gambling debts and for other personal expenses. The checks were either deposited into Culbertson's personal bank account, the bank accounts of her mother and son, or the bank account of her company, PC Tech. After reviewing all of the account records, agents were able to determine that approximately $374,943 had been fraudulently withdrawn from Barrington's bank account.

Culbertson also admitted that she failed to report this embezzled income on her federal income tax returns for the years 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. Culbertson's actions resulted in a total tax loss to the federal government (without penalties and interest) of $72,246. The total tax loss to the state of Missouri (without penalties and interest) was $17,352.

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Former Delaware Bank CEO Sentenced In $1.5 Million Fraud Case

From the News Journal on 11/25/2014:

A former bank chief executive was sentenced Monday to two years in prison for a scheme involving the use of his bank's money to pay personal debts.

James A. Ladio, 58, who founded and headed MidCoast Community Bank in Wilmington, received what some considered a stiff sentence, considering his substantial cooperation into the federal investigation of Wilmington Trust Co.

Ladio pleaded guilty last year to two counts of bank fraud and two counts of money laundering. He had asked U.S. District Judge Richard Andrews for home detention or community confinement. Instead, Ladio will report to prison on Jan. 9.

"This is a tough day for me," said Ladio, who seemed more self-assured than he did at his plea hearing last year. "I will never, ever be able to accept the actions I did. Remorse is something that eats you from inside."

Ladio said he had gotten himself into "desperate financial circumstances" following years of mounting debt that began with a divorce. In a letter to the judge, Ladio said the debt was always manageable until he invested beyond his means in the start-up of MidCoast. When the recession hit, he was forced to borrow more money to meet his loan obligations, he said.

Unable to pay the loans he owed Wilmington Trust, Ladio convinced two MidCoast customers to withdraw loan proceeds from the bank and turn the money over to him as private loans, prosecutors say. He then used the private loan money to pay off his obligations at Wilmington Trust.

The "agonizing" reflection Ladio did over the last year resulted in the decision to make amends, he told Andrews. That meant cooperating with the government in its Wilmington Trust probe and starting a business that would allow him to repay his debts.

"During this time, I decided to move forward – I willed myself," Ladio said.

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Former Connecticut Municipal Councilman Pleads Guilty To Embezzling More Than $100K

From WTNH Ch. 8 on 11/24/2014:

A former West Haven City Councilman admitted Monday to stealing more than $100,000 in an embezzlement scheme.

Stephen DeCrescenzo, 37, of West Haven, waived his right to an indictment and plead guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of wire fraud stemming from an embezzlement scheme.

According to court documents, DeCrescenzo was working as a personal banker at JP Morgan Chase in New Canaan. Between September of 2008 and November of 2011, DeCrescenzo embezzled $106,028 in funds from customer accounts by transferring the funds into a separate account to which he had access.

As part of the deception, DeCrescenzo disguised numerous withdrawals from the accounts as authorized cash withdrawals by customers when, in fact, he had stolen the money, officials said. DeCrescenzo also wired funds stolen from a customer account into another bank account of his own.

DeCrescenzo faces up to 20 years in prison. He is free on $50,000 bond. He is due back in court for sentencing on February 17, 2015.

DeCrescenzo, who was a member of the West Haven City Council, resigned from the Council on Monday.


Update (2/17/2015): DeCrescenzo was sentenced to three years of probation.  He reportedly blamed his actions on gambling.  Read an update of the story here.

New Jersey Woman Sentenced For Embezzling $260K From Bank

From Newsday on 11/24/2014:

A former bank manager who embezzled more than $260,000 has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Season Wengert, of Franklinville, will also have to serve three years of supervised release once she's freed. She had pleaded guilty in August to a bank embezzlement charge.

Prosecutors say the thefts occurred between September 2007 and January 2013, when the 32-year-old Wengert was branch manager of a southern New Jersey bank. But they haven't said what the money was used for.

 

Prosecutors say Wengert stole $263,864 by fraudulently conducting online computer transfers of money from 38 accounts belonging to 23 customers into accounts owned by her or her husband. She also withdrew money from customers' accounts and deposited it into her accounts.

The 32-year-old Wengert also must pay $261,654 in restitution.